* Tom Stoppard's ''RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead.'' Despite their flashes of GenreSavvy and occasional (dark) comedy, the ending features a complete lack of awareness on the character's part. The futility of their project is laid bare, they die accomplishing nothing except discover their names (and that's still iffy). The downfall being external (but necessary). The minor status of the ''protagonists'' to "incidental" characters like Theatre/{{Hamlet}}.

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* Tom Stoppard's ''RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead.''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead.'' Despite their flashes of GenreSavvy and occasional (dark) comedy, the ending features a complete lack of awareness on the character's part. The futility of their project is laid bare, they die accomplishing nothing except discover their names (and that's still iffy). The downfall being external (but necessary). The minor status of the ''protagonists'' to "incidental" characters like Theatre/{{Hamlet}}.

* ''Series/SteptoeAndSon'' sees working class rag-and-bone men Albert Steptoe and his son Harold plying a dying trade in 1960s and '70s London, with Harold's attempts to break away from his life continually thwarted.

* ''[[Film/{{Gojira}} Godzilla]]'' is a tragedy in a form of a {{Kaiju}} {{Horror}} film. While it does focus on the tragedy of the human characters, alas, ''Godzilla himself'' is revealed to be a TragicMonster, having his powers given to him by circumstances beyond his control. And he and TheHero die at the very end.

* ChinuaAchebe's ''Literature/ThingsFallApart'' was imagined from the very beginning as a classical tragedy. The hero, Okonkwo, is a strong and prosperous man in his Igbo village, with big fields of big yams and a big, well-maintained compound and three wives. He is very proud of his achievements and of his manliness--but his manliness and pride cause him to act rashly, eventually getting him exiled for manslaughter (when his FiringInTheAirALot kills someone), lead his son to abandon him, and ultimately causes his suicide.

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* ChinuaAchebe's Creator/ChinuaAchebe's ''Literature/ThingsFallApart'' was imagined from the very beginning as a classical tragedy. The hero, Okonkwo, is a strong and prosperous man in his Igbo village, with big fields of big yams and a big, well-maintained compound and three wives. He is very proud of his achievements and of his manliness--but his manliness and pride cause him to act rashly, eventually getting him exiled for manslaughter (when his FiringInTheAirALot kills someone), lead his son to abandon him, and ultimately causes his suicide.

* Several of ThomasHardy's novels are borderline examples, but ''The Mayor of Casterbridge'' unquestionably qualifies, to the extent that it's been read as a reworking of Aristotle's principles in nineteenth-century rural England. The novel begins with Michael Henchard selling his wife and child in a drunken rage, after which he [[TheAtoner gives up drinking and manages to turn his life around for a few years]]. Ultimately, though, his [[FatalFlaw pride and quick temper]] cause him to lose everyone he cares about, and he dies alone.

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* Several of ThomasHardy's Creator/ThomasHardy's novels are borderline examples, but ''The Mayor of Casterbridge'' unquestionably qualifies, to the extent that it's been read as a reworking of Aristotle's principles in nineteenth-century rural England. The novel begins with Michael Henchard selling his wife and child in a drunken rage, after which he [[TheAtoner gives up drinking and manages to turn his life around for a few years]]. Ultimately, though, his [[FatalFlaw pride and quick temper]] cause him to lose everyone he cares about, and he dies alone.

* "HouseOfCardsUS" features [[TheCorruptible Peter Russo]], a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, in a story that has the elements of a tragedy. He is a man of status with the potential for greatness, and genuinely wants to take care of his constituents, his girlfriend, and his kids. However, his fatal weakness for [[TheAlcoholic alcohol]], [[HookersAndBlow women, and drugs]] enables [[VillainProtagonist Francis Underwood]] to manipulate him into [[ForcedIntoEvil compromising his principles]] while serving as his [[UnwittingPawn pawn]]. [[spoiler: Once Peter is [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer useful]] to him, Francis orchestrates the [[OffTheWagon fall from the wagon]] that destroys both his career and private life and then kills him as a cruel form of "mercy" while he wallows in [[DespairEventHorizon despair]].]]

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* "HouseOfCardsUS" ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' features [[TheCorruptible Peter Russo]], a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, in a story that has the elements of a tragedy. He is a man of status with the potential for greatness, and genuinely wants to take care of his constituents, his girlfriend, and his kids. However, his fatal weakness for [[TheAlcoholic alcohol]], [[HookersAndBlow women, and drugs]] enables [[VillainProtagonist Francis Underwood]] to manipulate him into [[ForcedIntoEvil compromising his principles]] while serving as his [[UnwittingPawn pawn]]. [[spoiler: Once Peter is [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness no longer useful]] to him, Francis orchestrates the [[OffTheWagon fall from the wagon]] that destroys both his career and private life and then kills him as a cruel form of "mercy" while he wallows in [[DespairEventHorizon despair]].]]

* ''Theatre/TheOresteia'', a dramatic trilogy by {{Aeschylus}}, consisting of ''Theatre/{{Agamemnon}}'', ''[[Theatre/TheLibationBearers Choephoroi]]'' and ''Theatre/{{Eumenides}}'') and ''Theatre/{{Electra}}'' are classic (indeed quite literally) tragedies. The theme of fatal flaws and dramatic irony is applied to heroic men, such as Agamemnon and Orestes, but also to the house of Atreus as a whole. Apparently the Oresteia is also one of the first examples of NightmareFuel as during the premiere of the play the haunting song of the furies caused a pregnant woman to promptly miscarry and die in the process. One could probably write a tragedy about that too.

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* ''Theatre/TheOresteia'', a dramatic trilogy by {{Aeschylus}}, Creator/{{Aeschylus}}, consisting of ''Theatre/{{Agamemnon}}'', ''[[Theatre/TheLibationBearers Choephoroi]]'' and ''Theatre/{{Eumenides}}'') and ''Theatre/{{Electra}}'' are classic (indeed quite literally) tragedies. The theme of fatal flaws and dramatic irony is applied to heroic men, such as Agamemnon and Orestes, but also to the house of Atreus as a whole. Apparently the Oresteia is also one of the first examples of NightmareFuel as during the premiere of the play the haunting song of the furies caused a pregnant woman to promptly miscarry and die in the process. One could probably write a tragedy about that too.

*** Averted with [[Creator/{{Aeschylus}}]]'s ''Theatre/{{Eumenides}}'', which does have a happy ending. Aeschylus's ''Theatre/The Suppliants'' likewise ends with the titular characters being granted what they wanted, namely sanctuary, but since there's going to be a war and it was the first part of a trilogy, it's an ambiguous one.

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*** Averted with [[Creator/{{Aeschylus}}]]'s Creator/{{Aeschylus}}'s ''Theatre/{{Eumenides}}'', which does have a happy ending. Aeschylus's ''Theatre/The Suppliants'' ''Theatre/TheSuppliants'' likewise ends with the titular characters being granted what they wanted, namely sanctuary, but since there's going to be a war and it was the first part of a trilogy, it's an ambiguous one.

** Averted with Creator/{{Sophocles}}'s ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing'', in which Oedipus doesn't die. In the same playwright's ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'', there's some ambiguity about who the protagonist actually is: basically, the confusion comes from the misconception that the hero of a play is identical with its protagonist.[[note]]The hero of ''Antigone'' is Antigone herself, but the main protagonist is Creon, who is a VillainProtagonist.[[/note]]

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** Averted with Creator/{{Sophocles}}'s ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing'', in which Oedipus doesn't die. In the same playwright's ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'', there's some ambiguity about who the protagonist actually is: basically, the confusion comes from the misconception that the hero of a play is identical with its protagonist.[[note]]The hero of ''Antigone'' is Antigone herself, who does die, but the main protagonist is Creon, who is a VillainProtagonist.VillainProtagonist and who doesn't.[[/note]]

*** Averted with [[Creator/{{Aeschylus}}]]'s ''Theatre/{{Eumenides}}'', which does have a happy ending. Aeschylus's ''Theatre/The Suppliants'' likewise ends with the titular characters being granted what they wanted, namely sanctuary, but since there's going to be a war and it was the first part of a trilogy, it's an ambiguous one.

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** Averted with Creator/{{Sophocles}}'s ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing'', in which Oedipus doesn't die. In the same playwright's ''Theatre/{{Antigone}}'', there's some ambiguity about who the protagonist actually is: basically, the confusion comes from the misconception that the hero of a play is identical with its protagonist.[[note]]The hero of ''Antigone'' is Antigone herself, but the main protagonist is Creon, who is a VillainProtagonist.[[/note]]

* LightNovel/FateZero doesn't have complete closure due to being a prequel to the earlier VisualNovel/FateStayNight (which does provide a proper conclusion to the consequences of ''Zero''), but is a spectacular tragedy in and of itself, and one that fans of the Nasuverse ''know'' [[ForegoneConclusion didn't end well]]. It is filled to the brim with GreyAndGreyMorality, with the Masters either being in the fight for at least arguably selfish reasons (Tokiomi, Kayneth, Waver, Kirei), have genuinely good intentions but will do incredibly questionable things to achieve their goals (Kiritsugu, Kariya) or are just plain evil (Ryuunosuke, [[spoiler:Kirei later on]]). The Servants either have little choice in the whole matter or are no better than the Masters. And by the end, it gets ''ugly''. The only Master who doesn't end up dead, in despair or evil at the end is the one who actually grew positively as a person. [[spoiler:That person is Waver, who managed to get away with a happy ending. The only other two masters who survive are Kiritsugu, who is arguably the main human protagonist, and Kirei, who ends up being the end villain alongside Gilgamesh. Ryuunosuke is shot dead, Kayneth is also shot dead alongside his fiancee (even after sacrificing his own Servant for their lives), Tokiomi is stabbed in the back by Kirei, and despite his best efforts, poor Kariya also dies, only deepening Sakura's despair. Kiritsugu, despite surviving, ends up a broken man as all his sacrifices end up being for nothing, and his dream forever out of his reach.]] The only silver lining is [[spoiler:Shirou Emiya being saved from the fire by Kiritsugu, and later vowing to take up his adoptive father's dream of becoming a hero.]] That silver lining is the direct catalyst for its sequel bringing the tragedy to its final closure in the sequel.

* In ''RequiemForADream'', all of the main characters succumb to their [[DrugsAreBad addictions]]. [[spoiler: Harry's arm is infected by repeated use of the needle and he has to have it amputated, Tyrone gets thrown in jail for dealing drugs, Marion becomes a crack whore to support her drug habit and Sara gets reduced to a living wreck due to the combined effect of the weight-loss drugs and the electroshock therapy administered to kick the habit.]]

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* In ''RequiemForADream'', ''Film/RequiemForADream'', all of the main characters succumb to their [[DrugsAreBad addictions]]. [[spoiler: Harry's arm is infected by repeated use of the needle and he has to have it amputated, Tyrone gets thrown in jail for dealing drugs, Marion becomes a crack whore to support her drug habit and Sara gets reduced to a living wreck due to the combined effect of the weight-loss drugs and the electroshock therapy administered to kick the habit.]]

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